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Denise Stark joined TSA at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in January 2003 as Transportation Security Manager / Scheduling Operations Officer. In December 2003, Stark was promoted to the position of Administrative Officer at IAD having oversight of Human Resources, Logistics and Scheduling. In 2008 Stark was selected as the Assistant Federal Security Director-Operations, overseeing Training, Human Resources, Logistics, Scheduling, Safety, Metrics, Stakeholder, and Customer Service.

In April 2011, Stark was chosen to serve as Acting Unit Chief for the roll out of the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), and accepted a permanent Unit Chief position in July 2011. Stark serves as one of three Deciding Officials for OPR and oversees a team of Case Managers, who serve as Proposing Officials to the Unit Chiefs. The OPR determines whether allegations of TSA employee misconduct are substantiated, and, if so, the appropriate discipline to be imposed.

“What I do matters because the decisions I make in OPR play a crucial role in ensuring that should discipline be imposed, that it is appropriate and fair regardless of the assignment or the seniority of the involved TSA employee.”

“My job is challenging due to the fact that every decision I render impacts both the employee and TSA. As the Deciding Official in a proposed disciplinary action, I consider the information contained in the proposed disciplinary action; the materials relied upon by the proposing official in preparing the Proposal, as well as the written and/or oral reply provided by the employee. While disciplinary decisions are difficult to make, I strive to be both fair and consistent with the final penalty.”

“I am most proud of my participation in the stand-up of the OPR. As the first Unit Chief of OPR, I was the Deciding Official for OPR’s first large-scale case. I believe my contributions to the TSA mission have made a positive impact with our continued efforts to protect both our employees and the traveling public.”